"I'm asking you a question!" Lucas Hua demanded coldly.
"Well... you'll have to ask it yourself," Grace replied. "On the first day of May last year, I happened to save this little bird. It's been following me ever since, and I can't get rid of it."
"Really?" Lucas Hua frowned.
Grace nodded, "Later, when I joined the Spirit Alliance, I found out it was actually our Alliance Leader's messenger bird. So I asked it to go fetch you."
Falcon was silent for a moment and said, "Since you know it's the Alliance Leader's bird, why didn't you return it?"
"Wasn't I just about to return it?" Grace said.
However, as soon as she said this, Chirpy let out two sharp cries and perched on Grace's shoulder, looking absolutely unwilling to leave with Lucas Hua.
Lucas Hua frowned. The Golden Messenger Bird had lived for hundreds of years and only recognized the Alliance Leader as its master, so why was it following this young girl?
Could it be... she's the reincarnation of a former Alliance Leader?
"Captain Hua?" Grace called.
Lucas Hua said, "The Golden Messenger Bird is highly respected, and I can't force it. I need to consult with the Alliance Leader about this. In the meantime, please take good care of it."
"Of course!" Grace said. "Um... Captain Hua, actually, besides returning the bird, I have another favor to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Well... do you see all this dead Black Ginseng?"
Lucas Hua nodded.
"The reason the Black Ginseng died is because of chaotic spiritual energy. But our President, Sophie Sun, insists I poisoned it. She’s already sent word to headquarters, asking Falcon to investigate. I bet she’ll send someone tonight to tamper with the evidence and frame me..."
...
Early the next morning, Falcon Captain Lucas Hua appeared at the Blue Moon Spirit Alliance.
He arrived so quickly that Sophie Sun was startled.
Last night, Leo Bo went to poison the crops—did he succeed?
She calmed Lucas Hua first, then sent her trusted aide to check.
The aide reported seeing the mark left by Leo Bo.
Relieved, she explained the whole situation to Lucas Hua and asked him to investigate the truth behind the Black Ginseng's death.
Falcon investigated and found "Witherbane Elixir," a plant-killing substance, in the soil.
Sophie Sun insisted it was Grace who did it and demanded she be expelled from the Spirit Alliance.
Lucas Hua watched for a long time. Sophie Sun’s actions matched Grace’s story exactly, so he asked, "...President Sun, do you take me for an idiot?"
Sophie Sun was stunned. "What do you mean?"
"Where is that Leo Bo from your Blue Moon Spirit Alliance? Do you know?"
"Leo Bo?" Sophie Sun was confused. "Maybe he had something to do at home and will come later. Why?"
Sophie Sun figured Leo Bo had gone out to do the dirty work last night and couldn’t get up this morning.
So, since he hadn't shown up yet, she didn't think much of it.
"He's in the hut at the foot of the mountain," Lucas Hua said. "I caught him red-handed last night when he was poisoning the crops."
Sophie Sun's mind buzzed. "What... poisoning?"
"The Witherbane Elixir in the soil was his doing. I saw it with my own eyes," Lucas Hua said expressionlessly.
It took Sophie Sun a while to process it. "You... you came last night?"
How could that be? How was it possible?
Messenger pigeons aren’t that fast. It takes at least half a day to get to Yanjing. That means the message would’ve arrived yesterday afternoon—how could he have come last night?
"You tried to poison and frame your own Alliance member. I'll report this—you'll get a major demerit," Lucas Hua said. "As for the Black Ginseng, you know the rules. Hand it over. If you don't, that's another demerit."
"No, wait..." Sophie Sun felt like her heart was about to give out. "How did you arrive last night?"
Lucas Hua looked at her. "Take a guess."
Sophie Sun, pale-faced, truly had no clue.
In the end, both Sophie Sun and Leo Bo received major demerits.
As for the Black Ginseng, she promised to hand it all over.